First winner for King’s Apostle

First winner for King’s Apostle
Klawervlei Stud’s well performed first crop sire, King’s Apostle, got off the mark on Wednesday when the Klawervlei bred National King won a maiden juvenile plate over 1200m at Clairwood Park.

National King, his sire’s sole starter to date, had run second on debut and duly confirmed this promising debut when running out a 2.25 length winner of Clairwood’s second race.

Out of the four time winning mare National Delux, National King looks a juvenile colt well above average and could yet contest a feature race this season. Interestingly enough, National King is intensely inbred to the legendary sire Sadler’s Wells, with King’s Apostle being out of a daughter of Barathea (Sadler’s Wells) and National Delux being produced by Fort Wood (Sadler’s Wells) mare Daisy Delux.

King’s Apostle was a top-class sprinter, whose seven wins included the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and the G2 Diadem Stakes. He was also second in the G2 Duke of York Stakes, retiring to stud with a Timeform Rating of 121.

He raced sound from two to five, and retired having earned over GBP 300 000 in prize money.

King’s Apostle is a son of former 2000 Guineas winner King’s Best, a son of Kingmambo, who was Champion Sire in France in 2010. Sire of 51 stakes winners to date, King’s Best’s offspring include the mighty Workforce – winner of both the G1 Investec Derby and G1 Prix de’l Arc de Triomphe.

King’s Apostle is out of the unraced Barathea mare, Politesse, and is a half-brother to three winners.

Both King’s Apostle’s second dam (Embassy) and third dam (Pass The Peace) were official Champions at two. This is also the family of the mighty Australian champion, Atlantic Jewel, as well as promising Mike de Kock colt, Journeyman.

The second crop of King’s Apostle proved popular at the 2014 Cape Premier Yearling Sale with a colt out of the Al Mufti mare Lavender Bells fetching R400 000 at that recent sale.

King’s Apostle, whose first crop are now two, stood the 2013 season for a stud fee of R15 000.